The visiting Boston Celtics are out to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks for the second time this season when the teams meet Sunday afternoon.
Jaylen Brown scored 30 points and Payton Pritchard came off the bench to add 28 points with eight 3-pointers when host Boston beat Milwaukee 119-108 on Oct. 28. The Bucks led 80-79 before the Celtics went on an 18-2 run that began late in the third quarter and extended into the fourth.
Brown’s status for Sunday’s matchup is uncertain. He has not played in Boston’s last four games because of a strained left hip flexor. The Celtics were also without center Luke Kornet during Friday night’s 108-104 overtime victory against the Brooklyn Nets because of right hamstring tightness.
“(They’re) day to day, like the rest of us,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. “(Brown is) getting better. Getting a little bit better each day. Getting there.”
Damian Lillard led the Bucks with 33 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the loss to Boston. Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 30 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Milwaukee ended a six-game losing streak by defeating the Utah Jazz 123-100 on Thursday, but dropped a 116-94 decision to the New York Knicks on the road Friday night.
Antetokounmpo had 24 points and 12 rebounds against the Knicks, but was clearly frustrated with Milwaukee’s effort level during the loss, which dropped Milwaukee’s road record to 1-5.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to compete,” Antetokounmpo said after Friday’s game. “Teams are not just going to give us games. They’re not going to feel bad for us.
“We’ve got to compete every single possession. Every loose ball, we’ve got to get a body on the floor and put it on the line. But we didn’t compete at all. … We’ve got Boston in two days. We don’t compete, we’re going to lose by 30.”
Boston’s OT victory over Brooklyn on Friday came two days after the Celtics absorbed a 118-112 home loss to the Golden State Warriors. Jayson Tatum collected 33 points and nine rebounds in Friday’s win. Pritchard finished with 20 points, including six in overtime.
“It was kind of one of those ugly, grind-it-out games,” Mazzulla said. “We gave up some stuff that we have to get better at, but you had to earn any basket. You had to earn it on both ends of the floor, and I thought we did that, especially toward the end of the game.”
The Celtics shot a season-low 26.4 percent from 3-point territory against Brooklyn (14 of 53). Sam Hauser was 2 of 10 on 3-point attempts, and Derrick White was 1 of 6 from behind the arc.
“I don’t think it’s very hard (to maintain confidence), just because we know the type of shooters that we have,” Boston’s Al Horford said. “We work at this every day, and those are shots that we have to take.
“We had a lot of good looks, and you just have to take them and trust in your process. And I always just think back on our work, on our preparation when we have any kind of ruts like this.”
